


An Old Flame

by HopeCoppice



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: 1862, Established Relationship, Fluff, Holy Water, M/M, Other, St James's Park (Good Omens), emphasis on the hopeless, hopelessly in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2021-01-26 12:16:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21374014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeCoppice/pseuds/HopeCoppice
Summary: There's something that's been bothering Aziraphale. It's been bothering him for a long time, now.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 29
Kudos: 126





	An Old Flame

**Author's Note:**

> Couldn't resist this idea when it popped into my head (although it's been on my prompts list for ages so I guess I *could* resist it for a while). Just a silly little what-if.

“Crowley, my dear,” Aziraphale murmured into the demon’s hair one night, and Crowley did his best to drag himself back up from the verge of sleep to listen to him. “There’s something that’s been bothering me.”

“Mm?”

“Yes. From… well, it’s been bothering me for fifty years, but it’s about 1862, actually.”

“1862?” That got his attention; he opened his eyes properly. “We fought.”

“Yes. You asked me for Holy Water. You’d written it down. Infernal paper. Felt a little like the way _ spicy _ tastes.”

“I didn’t realise it would hurt you, it was just the nearest-”

“That’s not what’s bothered me all those years, dear heart. Do you remember, I told you I couldn’t give it to you?”

“Fraternising,” Crowley grumbled; the term still rankled. “Threw the note in the lake, stormed off, yes, I remember.”

“I’ve always wondered why you didn’t just take it, then.”

Crowley frowned; it felt as though he’d missed a step in the stairway of this conversation, and now he was in danger of crashing painfully to the bottom.

“Take what?”

“The Holy Water. I thought- well, maybe the ducks would have had some effect on it. I’m sure you had your reasons, I’ve just always wondered.”

“You- angel, you didn’t _ give _ me any Holy Water. Not until a century later, anyway. Take it _ how? _”

“You mean you didn’t know?”

“Angel.” It came out as a growl; it was too late at night for these games, and Crowley had been too close to a blissful sleep. “Let’s assume I still don’t know, and you can spell it out for me.”

“Well- the note- I threw it in the lake, and it _ caught fire. _The infernal paper.”

“Yes, I noticed, very dramati-” The penny dropped; Crowley sat up slowly so he could stare down at his angel. “The infernal paper caught fire… when it hit the lake.”

“Yes, dear. Which it does, when it touches-”

“You blessed the whole _ lake? _”

“I didn’t know how much you’d need. And I was so afraid you’d slipped and fallen in when you tried to get it - you _ disappeared _\- and then you turned up at the church-”

“You _ blessed the lake.” _Crowley was still stuck on that point. “Because I asked you for Holy Water.”

“You- you did say you didn’t want it to hurt yourself,” Aziraphale pointed out, propping himself against the pillows so he could look Crowley in the eye. “I wouldn’t have, if-”

“It was _ right there _-”

“You really didn’t know? I- I’ve always wondered why you were trying to _ steal _ the stuff, a hundred years later- I couldn’t _ give _ it to you, couldn’t _ tell _you-”

“So you hoped I’d know that infernal paper is destroyed by Holy Water, too, not just demons.” Crowley sighed. “I didn’t. I’d never seen the two things meet.”

“Oh, Crowley, I’m so sorry. I should have said something-”

“You _ blessed the lake _for me.” Crowley found himself grinning, despite himself. “A whole lake, just for me.”

“Oh.” Aziraphale dared a little smile, apparently realising that he wasn’t in trouble. “Well, my dear. What else could I do, when the demon I loved was so insistent?”

Crowley had no answer for that, save a delighted, utterly besotted smile, and a kiss that took them both right back down to the mattress again.


End file.
